CURRENTS: HOTEL DESIGN

By DONNA PAUL

Published: November 1, 2001

The lounge trend has hit the six-year-old SoHo Grand Hotel, where the former dining room on the second floor has been turned into the grand lounge. (Lounges are to finger food what dining rooms are to sit-down dinners.) Here, the retro look is something other than the ubiquitous midcentury modern found in other new lounges. The designer, William Sofield of Studio Sofield, was inspired by the SoHo hotels of the 1870's. ''We wanted it to celebrate the pan-culturalism from that time and the exotic elements of the cast-iron buildings,'' he said. Shades of brown and camel add modern opulence. The tête-à-tête sofa, below, was re-covered in chocolate velvet. The crackle-finish tables in gold and brown lacquer, the Lucite lights and the sofa, in a bold Greek key pattern, were all custom-made. Add animal-print pillows and artists in ironically earnest eyewear, and the place feels like home, a very hip home. At 310 West Broadway (Grand Street). DONNA PAUL